1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage and organization of documents and computer storage media, and more particularly to a compact storage and/or filing case having divided, compartmentalized document storage space and one or more 3.5" floppy disk slots.
2. Background
Many attempts have been made in the prior art for providing an organizer for documents and computer media either separately or in combination. As will be recognized, none of the prior art solutions offer a flexible protective compartmentalized apparatus for both documents and computer storage media, convenient use and ease of identification of and access to contents, and economical manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,258 discloses a diskette holder of the type which may be received in albums or table stands. The holder comprises a plurality of relatively stiff sheets to form a pocket for a floppy disk in the form of a sandwich-type structure. The pocket is then subsequently removable mounted in storage unit, such as a binder or box. This approach does not allow the facile storage of the computer-readable media with paper documents, such as directory listings, file printouts or hard copies, documentation, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,205 describes another computer disk holder attachable to a three ring notebook. The holder is essentially a rigid plastic frame page with plastic detents for holding the disks on the frame page. While this arrangement allows the filing of documents in the three ring binder with the computer readable storage media, the three ring binder format is far from ideal. The snap rings of the binder are often difficult to manipulate. The hard copies to be stored must be perforated with holes in a certain alignment, and if the documents are thick, such as software documentation booklets, perforation may require them to be disassembled before punching. Further, if the items stored are of differing sizes, the overall organization of the binder is substantially hindered.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,438 discloses a file folder with an attached computer disc pocket. The pocket includes a rear wall, a front wall, a cover flap and a retaining flap to prevent the loss of a disc contained therein. The walls of the file and the pocket may be made from translucent plastic to allow easy view of the file folder contents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,981 discloses a box-type storage unit for computer diskettes and provides space for documentation. The box has a latched cover and contains loose-leaf plastic pages for holding the computer-readable storage media and the documentation. One major disadvantage of this system are that the box-type construction renders the case more suitable for archival purposes, e.g., for placement on a shelf, than for portability. The plastic pages limit the amount of storage available, and their pre-sized format makes the inclusion of many documents of varying size difficult to order according to the needs of the user: that is, the predominantly limiting sorting criterion is by size.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,727 discloses an accordion-type holder for diskettes having a cover. Disadvantageously, there is no provision for an easy way to include various sized documents with the floppies. A further disadvantage is the requirement for the use of adhesive labels on the exterior of the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,681 discloses a spiral-bound notebook which can accommodate diskettes and documents. A major disadvantage with this apparatus is that the multipart construction is held together by a comb-type binding device, which in use can become unbound. Without the appropriate apparatus for binding the leaves of the book to the binding spine, it is very difficult to reintroduce the individual tines of the comb into the slots cut on the leaves should they separate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,908 discloses a retaining envelope for computer discs that consists of a pocket sized to receive the disc and a mounting means for securing the pocket to any desired flat surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,681 discloses a fastenable book-like holder, organizer and storage device for a series of computer diskettes. A set of diskette envelopes leaved together with pliant covers bound by a device such as a popular plastic comb binding, and fastened by a device such as a hook and loop fastener so that the holder secures a set of computer floppy diskettes. The cover configuration includes an elongated flapped member which can be scored for easy folding around the end of the holder; which, upon closure, secures the contents, and the curve of which, when open, keeps contained diskettes from falling from the various leaves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,585 discloses a modular storage container for flexible recording disks is made up of a plurality of lightweight, flat rectangular panels which are interconnected to form a corresponding number of storage compartments. The outside panels have handle grips to facilitate handling or transporting of the containers, and each storage compartment contains an actuating lever mechanism which through selective depression of an associated push rod having a tab located externally of the compartment, will cause a selected disk to be advanced from its storage location for removal and use. A series of tabs alternate in such a fashion as to allow the rods to be close together without touching one another; yet each tab may be depressed individually without interference from the other tabs.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 332,005 discloses a CD holder, comprising a plurality of plastic pages with CD-receiving sleeves attached to an outer wrapper for securing the pages. This arrangement does not provide for the inclusion of various documentation. If indeed documentation were included, it would likely be a standard-sized CD jewel box insert, which could share an individual envelope with the CD. This arrangement also suffers from the drawback of the lack of any means for interchangeably including a label on the outer surface to identify the contents.
It therefore remains desirable to arrive at improved apparatus for containing and organizing documents and computer readable storage media.